Rail anchor



Aug. 5, 1941. L MOORE Erm. 2,251,685'

l RAIL ANCHOR Filed Jan. 14, '1939 ..3 Sheets-Sheet l y G. L. MOORE ETAL RAIL ANCHOR Filed Jan. 14, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 gmmto 0 001,6

Aug 5,A 1941.

G. L. MOORE ETAL RAIL ANCHOR s sheets-shea s Filed Jan. 14, 1959 fia ci Patented Aug. 5, 1941 RAIL ANCHOR George Loop Moore and James Robert Steele, Owego, N. Y.

Application January 14, 1939, Serial No. 250,866

(Cl. 23S-315) 12 Claims.

Our invention relates to rail anchors and particularly to anchors for resisting the creeping of railroad rails in either direction of traffic.

One of the objects of our invention is to provide an anchor which is easily applied to a rail, which efciently grips the rail and which cooperates with a member of the road bed to effectively retain the rail against displacement when the rail is in its assembled condition.

Another object of our invention is to provide a rail anchor which will check the longitudinal creeping of the rail in either direction of 4traflic.

A further object of our invention is to provide a rail anchor which is adaptable to be inserted adjacent the shing surface of the rail.

The novel features of our invention will be more fully understood from the following description and claims taken with the drawings in which- Figure 1 is a sectional View of a railway track structure with one type of our improved rail anchor partly installed therewith;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the anchor shown in Fig. l assembled with the track structure;

Fig. 3 is an end View of the anchor shown in Fig. 1 in its assembled relation with the track structure;

Fig. 4 is a side view in elevation of the anchor in its applied position;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of a railway track with one of our modified anchors assembled therewith;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of a railway track structure with two of our anchors in their assembled position therewith; and

Figs. '1, 8, 9 and l0 are views similar to Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively, showing another modiiication of our invention.

Referring to Figures 1 to 4 of the drawings wherein we show a section of a railway track structure comprising a tie plate I5 mounted on the tie I8, and a rail I1 which is retained in position thereon by suitable fasteners including a member of our novel anchor which comprises the special spike or fastener I8 and the spring plate member I9. The fastener I8 in its preferred form comprises a shank portion 29 which is formed to t tightly in the hole I4 in the tie plate I5 so as to completely fill the hole I4 when it is assembled with the structure and a head 2I having a vertical face 22 which as shown is perpendicular to the bottom surface of the base of the rail and side faces 23 and 24, respectively. The member I9 comprises a rail head engaging portion or ange 25, a bowed body portion 26, an arcuate portion 21, and a base flange engaging portion 28. A recess 30 is provided in the flange'28 to receive the spike head ZI to prevent the movement of the member I9 longitudinally of the rail I1, the vertical face 3I and the side faces 32 and 33, respectively, being formed so that they will engage the inner face 22 and the side faces 23 and 24, respectively, of the spike I8, when the member I9 is in its assembled condition with the track structure, and provide a substantially tight t therebetween, as shown in Figure 3, so that the anchor is prevented from twisting to any substantial degree when a load is transmitted thereto.

The anchor 35 shown in Figure 5 is similar to that shown in Figures 1 to 4, inclusive, except that the face 36 adjacent the spike receiving recess is substantially perpendicular to the upper surface of the base flange of the rail and the spike head 31 is provided with a bevel face 38 which is at the same angle to the upper surface of the base flange of the railas the face 36 so that when the anchor is in its assembled condition the member 35 will exert a downward pressure on the head 31V of the spike and therefore prevent the spike from lifting out of the tie. This structure provides a resilient anchor which permits the rail to undulate while at the same time effectively retains the spike against Vertical displacement.

The anchor shown in Figures '1 to 10, inclusive, is similar to the anchors already described except that the lower flange of the resilient member is modified. This anchor comprises a spike 4I having a special head 42 to engage the base flange of the rail I1 and a resilient member 43 which is provided with a rail head engaging portion or flange 44, a bowed body portion 45, an arcuate portion 46 and a flange 41 having a recess 48 therein to receive the head 42 of the spike 4I. The head 42 of the spike is provided with ears 49 and 5|] which are engaged by the portions 52 and 53 of the iiange 41. These ears 49 and 50 also serve for pulling the spike. The face 54 of the iiange 41 engages the inner face 55 of the spike 4I. This structure also provides a resilient anchor which permits the rail to undulate while at the same time it effectively retains the spike against vertical displacement and the rail from creeping in either direction of traflic.

The spikes used in connection with the resilient members are preferably made of carbon steel andl heat treated so that they will retain the resilient members in their proper relation and eifectively retainY the rail against creeping in'either direction.

In Figure 6 we show one type of our novel anchors assembled with a rail, the resilient members having been sprung at A and B, respectively, during assembly. Referring to the resilient member in the left nshing space of the rail, which is so made that whereM is the moment, and F-F equals the resultant reaction of the upward forces and the downward forces, respectively, of the resilient member and the upward force F is at a greater distance from the web of the rail than the downward force F, the diierence being indicated by the letter S, and D equals the distance between the points FR-FR, MF-F tends to rotate the member into fishing of rail and the force with which it does this is equal and opposite to R and FS=RD S=a proximately 1/4 D for average rail R 14 F It is apparent from the foregoing that the resilient member I9, which comprises a spike head engaging portion 3 l a rail base engaging portion 28, a rail head engaging portion 25, an intermediate bowed body portion 26 and an arcuate portion 2l, during its assembly with the rail, after being placed in the position shown in Figure 1 with the recess 30 adjacent the head of the spike and force applied to its upper flange 25 in the direction of the arrow, will `be deformed suflicently to permit the portion 25 to pass beneath the rail head and the portion 3l to rotate about the spike head 42 until the rail base engaging portion 28 engages the upper surface of the rail base iiange and the rail head engaging portion 25 to pass inwardly towards the web of the rail a substantial distance beyond the spike engaging portion 3l to the position shown in full lines in Figure 6. As stated before when the anchor is in its assembled condition with the rail the upward force F tends to rotate the rail head engaging portion 25 inwardly towards the web of the rail due to the member I9 tending to resume its normal or original condition, as shown in dotted lines in Figure 6, and as the downward force F is exerted in a plane which lies a substantial distance inwardly towards the web of the rail from the vertical plane passing through the point of exertion of the upwardly directed'force F, a constant diagonal pressure is exerted between the upwardly directed force F and the downwardly directed force F which tends to force the railhead engaging portion further towards the web of the rail. As the diagonal distance between the points FRf-FR is greater than the distance D and as the tendency of the member I9 is to resume its normal condition in a direction diagonal with respect to the web of the rail towards the web of the rail, as shown in dotted lines Figure 6, there will be a constant tendency for the upper end of the anchor to move towards the web of the rail and thereby to effectively retain the anchor in gripping engagement with the rail.

As our novel anchor comprising a resilient member made of plate material allows quite a large deflection and coupled with this the fact that our anchor in its unsprung condition is as shown in dotted lines in Figure 6, when the anchor is in its sprung condition and the nange 23 is in contact with head of the rail and the upper end is in contact with the rail base ange, as shown in full lines in Figure 6, there is a constant tendency for the upper end of the anchor to move further toward the nllet when it is subjected to load or vibration and therefore to effectively prevent the rail from creeping in either direction.

Referring to Figures 1 and 3 of the drawings the anchor is assembled* with the track structure by inserting the spike I8 through the tie plate l5 into the tie i6 thus fastening the rail I1 to the tie it?. The ange 28 of the anchor member I9 is placed on the upper surface of the rail base iiange with the faces 3l, 32 and 33 engaging the faces 22, 23, and 24, respectively, of the head of the spike i8, as shown in Figure 1, and with the upper ange 25 disposed above the under surface of the head of the rail Il. The flange 25 is then depressed downwardly and inwardly by suitable means, such as striking a blow thereon in the direction of the arrow, until the flange 25 passes beneath the head of thel rail to the position shown in Figure 3. During this operation the bowed 'body portion 26 of the member I9 and the arcuate portion 27 have assumed the condition shown in Figure 3. In this condition the tendency of the member i9 is to assume the position shown in dotted lines in Figure 6 and to wedge the ange 25 further towards the iillet 40 of the rail. Due to the constant tendency of the arcuate portion 2 to resume its original condition there is a tendency for the upper portion of the anchor to be constantly urged towards the llet 4D and therefore there is no danger of the anchor becoming accidentally displaced in service.

The anchor member 35, as shown in Figure 5, is 'assembled in the same manner as the anchor member i9 and operates in the same manner as that anchor, but in addition the bevel face 36 of the anchor mem-ber 35 engages the bevel face 38 of the head of the spike 3l and thereby exerts a downward pressure on the spike head and pre- Vents the spike 37 from lifting out of the tie plate although allowing the rail to undulate without aiecting the efficiency of the anchor.

The anchor shown in Figures 7 to l0, inclusive,

is assembled with the track structure by inserting the spike 4I through the tie plate I5 into the tie i 6. The flange 41 of the member 43 is placed upon the head of the spike 4| with the portions 52 and 53 resting on the ears 49 and 50, respectively, as shown in Figure 7 and with the upper flange 44 disposed above the under surface of the head of the rail I'I. The flange 44 is then depressed downwardly and inwardly by suitable means such as striking a blow thereon in the direction of the arrow, until the flange 44 passes beneath the head of the rail to the position shown in Figure 10i During this operation the bowed body portion 45 and the arcuate portion 46 have assumed the condition shown in Figure 10. In this condition the tendency of the member 43 is to assume the position shown in dotted lines in Figure 6 and to wedge the flange 44 further towards the fillet 4U of the rail and therefore due to the constant tendency of the arcuate portion 2'1 to resume its original condition there is a tendency for the upper portion of the anchor to be constantly urged towards the llet 40 and therefore there is no danger of the anchor becoming accidentally displaced in service as the member 43 eiectively retains the spike 4| against vertical displacement.

By changing the bends in our anchors the required resistance for any predetermined load can be determined and should excessive loads be applied to the anchor it will slip until the load passes from above this predetermined amount, but as soon as the load is again normal the anchor will immediately become effective to retain the rail against further creeping.

From the above it will be obvious that we have devised a rail anchor a member of which can be applied, removed and reapplied without the removal of the spikes, and one which permits the rail to undulate without losing its eiciency; also an anchor which is resilient so that it will eiectively grip the rail a predetermined amount and absorb the shock but which will slip upon a load above the predetermined amount being imposed thereon so that its efiiciency will not be impaired due to excessive loads, and which can be used on worn as well as new rails because or its resilient structure.

Wnile we have shown our invention in a plurality of forms, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various other changes and modications without departing from the spirit thereof, and we desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are imposed by the prior art or as are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

Having' thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a railway track structure, including a rail and a seat for said rail, an anchor retaining said rail in operative relation with said seat,

said anchor comprising a spike and a resilient member of such form that it is incapable of being assembled with the rail in its normal condition and it is necessary to deform said member during its application to the rail, said member having a bowed body and anged ends, one of said flanged ends engaging the upper surface of the rail base and having a recess therein receptive of the head of said spike and the other of said flanged ends engaging the under surface of the rail head, the central longitudinal plane normal to the engaged surface of the rail head lying inwardly of the outer edge of the rail base surface adjacent the spike head engaged by said ilanged end receiving the spike head.

2. A resilient rail anchor to be applied to surfaces in the fishing space of a rail, said anchor being so dimensioned that it is incapable of assembly in its normal condition with said surfaces and it is therefore necessary to deform said anchor during its application with the rail comprising an end portion to engage the under surface of a rail head, an end portion to engage the rail base flange, an arcuate portion intermediate said end portions, and a spike engaging portion extending laterally from and integral with the rail base flange end portion, said rail head engaging portion and said rail ange engaging portion and said spike engaging portion being so dimensioned and related that when the anchor is in its eiiective assembled position with the rail the central longitudinal plane normal to the surface of the rail head engaged by the rail head engaging portion will lie inwardly of the outer edge of the rail base engaging portion adjacent the spike head engaging portion so that the reaction between said portions will cause the anchor to be retained in its eiective gripping relation with the rail.

3. A resilient rail anchor comprising an end portion to engage the under surface of a rail head, an end flanged portion to engage the rail base flange, a body portion intermediate said end portions, an arcuate portion intermediate said body portion and the rail base engaging end portion, and a spike engaging portion integral with the outer edge of the rail base engaging portion, said anchor in its normal condition being of a form that when the anchor is initially applied to the rail with the spike engaging portion in engagement with the spike head the rail head engaging end portion will lie a substantial distance above the plane of the undersurface of the rail head to be engaged by said portion when the anchor is in its effective assembled condition and the major portion of the flanged end portion is out of engagement with the rail base ilange and to assemble said anchor to its eiective position it is necessary to apply pressure to said rail head engaging portion so as to force said portion beneath the rail head, thereby deforming said anchor about its arcuate portion and forcing the major portion of the end anged portion into engagement with the rail base flange and the other end portion into its effective engagement with the under surface of the rail head; the longitudinal plane which is normal to and passes through the innermost v portion of said surface and the rail head engaging portion lying inwardly of the spike engaging portion.

4f. In a railway track structure, including a. rail and a seat for said rail, an anchor for said rail, said anchor comprising a spike having a special head and a spring plate member in spaced relation to the rail seat having a bowed body adapted` to be deformed during application of the anchor to the track structure and flanged ends, one of said ilanged ends when the anchor is initially applied to the rail in its normal condition lying in a plane above the under surface of the rail head with which it is to be engaged in its eiiective assembled condition Whereby during application of the anchor to its effective assembled position with the rail it is necessary to deform said anchor and permit said flange end to engage the under surface ofthe rail head and the other of said flanged ends adapted to engage the rail base flange and the head of the spike to retain said plate member and the spike in their assembled relation with the track structure.

5. A rail anchor comprising a resilient member adapted to be distorted to permit its entry into the fishing space of a rail, said member having a portion to engage the under surface of the rail head, a ilange to engage the up-per surface of the rail base ilange and the head of the rail fastening spike at the edge of the rail, the central longitudinal plane normal to the surface of the rail head engaged by the rail head engaging pori tion lying inwardly of the outer edge of the iiange engaging the rail base adjacent the spike head, and a body having an arcuate portion connecting said ilanges.

6. A rail anchor adapted to be inserted into the iishing space of a rail, said anchor having a length before assembly greater than the width of the shing space of the rail, said anchor comprising a resilient body portion and end portions, said body portion adapted to be deformed during the assembly of the anchor with the rail thereby permitting the anchor to enter the fishing space of the rail, and a spike head engaging portion having a recess adapted to receive a spike head when the anchor is in its assembled condition with the rail, said anchor, fishing space and spike headY being so formed and arranged that the anchor, when initially applied to a rail with the spike head engaging portion in contact with the spike head, will have its upper end projecting a substantial distance above the entrance t0 the fishing space of the rail and in the app1ca tion of the anchor to its eective assembled position force is applied to the upper end thereof to deform the anchor and rotate it about the spike head towards the web of the rail until the rail head engaging portion passes a distance beyond the spike head engaging portion and engages the under surface of the rail head, said under surface lying in a plane substantially normal to the diagonal longitudinal plane passing through the innermost portion of the rail head engaging portion and the spike engaging portion.

7. A rail anchor having a lower surface adapted to engage the upper side of the base flange of the rail and a face adjacent the margin of said surface to engage the head of a track spike, an upper surface adapted to engage the underside of the head of the rail, the surface of which is so disposed with relation to the spike that the longitudinal plane normal to the innermost portion of said surface engaged by said upper surface of the anchor, when the anchor is in its effective position, lies inwardly of the spike, and a resilient portion intermediate said surfaces, the upper surface being so positioned with respect to said lower surface that when the anchor is initially applied to the rail with its lower marginal edge surface in contact with the base flange of the rail the said upper surface is adjacent the side face of the rail head in a plane considerably above the under surface of the rail head with which it is engaged after the anchor is applied in its effective position on the rail, whereby a downward force is necessary to suillciently spring the resilient portion of the anchor to force the upper surface thereof beneath the rail head into its effective position on the rail.

8. A rail anchor having a lower surface adapted to engage the upper side of the flange of the rail base and an adjacent surface to engage the head of a track spike and an upper surface adapted to engage the under side of the head of the rail, and a resilient portion intermediate said surfaces, the upper surface being so positioned with respect to said lower surface that when the anchor is initially applied to the rail in its normal condition with its spike engaging surface adjacent the spike head the said upper surface is in a plane considerably above the under surface of the head of the rail with which it is to engage after the anchor is effectively applied to the rail and a considerable downward and inward force is necessary to deforrn said anchor sufficiently to permit the upper surface of the anchor to pass beneath the head of the rail and into its effective gripping relation with the under surface thereof, the central longitudinal plane normal to the engaged under surface lying inwardly of the outer edge of the portion of the anchor engaging the spike head.

9. A rail anchor having a lower surface adapted to engage the upper side of the flange of the rail and an upper surface adapted to engage the underside of the head of the rail and a resilient portion intermediate said surface, the upper surface being so positioned with respect to said lower surface that when the anchor is initially applied to the rail the said upper surface is in a plane above the surface of the rail with which it is engaged after the anchor is effectively applied to the rail whereby a downward and inner blow on the upper end of the anchor will deform said resilient portion and spring the anchor into its effective position with the upper surface of the rail base flange, and under surface of the rail head, and a surface to engage a spike, the Central longitudinal plane normal to the under surface of the rail head engaged by said anchor lying inwardly of the spike engaging surface, whereby the anchor is retained in its eective position on the rail by the pressure imposed on the engaging surfaces by the resilient portion tending to assume its original condition.

10. A rail anchor comprising a resilient member adapted to be distorted to permit its entry into the shing space of a rail, said member having a rail head engaging portion to engage the under surface of the rail head, a rail base flange engaging portion to engage the upper surface of the rail base flange and to abut a member adjacent the edge of the rail, and a body portion connecting the head and flange engaging portions; the longitudinal plane normal to the surface of the rail head engaged by the rail head engaging portion which passes through the inner longitudinal edge of said rail head engaging portion lying inwardly of the outer edge of the rail base flange engaging portion which abuts a member adjacent the edge of the rail.

11. A resilient rail anchor to grippingly engage the fishing surfaces of a rail in its assembled condition, said anchor comprising a rail head engaging portion, a rail base flange engaging portion and an arcuate portion intermediate said rail head engaging portion and said rail base flange engaging portion, said anchor adapted to be distorted during its application to the fishing surfaces of the rail to permit the rail head engaging portion to pass beneath the rail head and into engagement with the under surface of the rail head in the fishing space of the rail and said rail base flange engaging portion adapted to abut a member adjacent the edge of the rail base flange to retain said anchor against. displacement in its assembled condition; a longitudinal plane normal to the innermost under surface of the rail head engaged by the rail head engaging portion, and passing through said rail head engaging portion, lying inwardly of the outer edge of the flange engaging portion which abuts a member adjacent the edge of the rail base flange.

l2. A resilient rail anchor to grippingly engage the fishing surfaces of a rail in its assembled condition, said anchor comprising a rail head engaging portion, a rail base flange engaging portion and an arcuate portion intermediate said rail head engaging portion and said rail base flange engaging portion, said anchor adapted to be distorted during its application to the shing surfaces of the rail to permit the rail head engaging portion to pass beneath the rail head and into engagement with the under surface of the rail head in the fishing space of the rail and said rail base flange engaging portion adapted to abut a member adjacent the edge of the rail base flange to retain said anchor against displacement, said member lying outwardly of the longitudinal plane which is normal to the innermost surface of the rail head engaged by the rail head engaging portion.

GEORGE LOOP MOORE. JAMES ROBERT STEELE.

CERTIFICATE OF CORREC'IlON. Patent No. 2,251, 685. I Y August '5, 19in.

. GEORGE Loop MOORE, ET `AL. y It i'sherebsr lcertified that er-ror appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 5, first column, vline 57, claim 2, before the word "end" insert en gaging; and.

that the said Letters Ped-,ente should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the atent Office.

signed and sealed this 50th day of september, A. D. 19M.

v Henry Van Arsdale, (Seal) 'Y Y Y i Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

